Buddha Likeness Re-emerged from Reservoir after 60 Years

A statue of Buddha has re-emerged from the waters of a local reservoir after six decades.

(Mirror Daily, United States) – Residents of the Jiangxi Province have witnessed something that can be called a miracle. A statue of Buddha has re-emerged from the waters of a local reservoir after six decades.

The statue, which measures approximately 4 meters in height, was carved into a cliff, and, according to the archeological team, it is at least 600 years old.
China lost a lot of its historical relics during the Cultural Revolution, which started in the 1960s. As we know, during the (in)famous movement, China got rid of all artifact that tied it to its feudalistic, superstition-laden past.

Unfortunately, the great movement which would pave the way for a Modern China came at a great cost – many relics, some of them hundreds of years old, were lost.
However, the recent discovery shows that there is some hope for China to recover its cultural heritage. The statue of Buddha, which mysteriously reemerged from a reservoir in Jiangxi Province, has not been seen for at least six decades.
According to the authorities, the statue was discovered by a villager a month ago, during routine work on one of the reservoir’s water gate. At that time, the reservoir’s water level dropped by at least 10 meters. While working, the villager caught a glimpse of something that looks like a human head, only to discover later that the reservoir’s waters were hiding a gigantic Buddha likeness.
The statue became even more evident, after the reservoir’s water level dropped. The team of an archaeologist who went to investigate the villager’s discovery declared that this is indeed one of those times when it’s for the best to bury something. If not for the man-made reservoir and the high water level, the statue of Buddha would have surely met its demise during the Cultural Revolution.
Upon examination, the archaeologists concluded that the statue of Buddha is at least 600 years old, dating back to the Ming Dynasty (1368 – 1644).
Xu Changqing, the director of Jiangxi’s Research Institute of Archaeology, declared that the perfectly-preserved likeness of Buddha might only be the tip of the iceberg. The team found the remains of a temple at the bottom of the reservoir. Changqing added that this discovery shouldn’t be that surprising, considering the fact that the man-made reservoir was built right on top of an ancient city of Xiaoshi.

Image Source: Pixabay

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Melissa Gansler

Melissa calls herself Poet, essayist, and naturalist. Graduated from the University of Michigan, Melissa holds a degree in Literature. Besides English, she can also speak Chinese, German, French.